Version 3.1.4 – May 11, 2021
IMP / IMS Step by Step
Building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated
Master Schedule (IMS) from Proposal and Successful Execution
Building, deploying, and executing an IMP / IMS requires change in the conventional paradigm of project planning
and controls and the management processes. This change starts by measuring progress as the completion of
Accomplishment Criteria (AC) and the fulfillment of Significant Accomplishments (SA). This progress is described
through the assessment of physical percent complete rather than measuring progress through the passage of time
and consumption of resources.
This change means planning Vertically for each Program Event (PE), from the exit criteria of Work Packages to their
Accomplishment Criteria (AC), to the Significant Accomplishments (SA), to the PE. Only then, can planning take
place Horizontally for the dependencies between Program Events. As well, a change takes place in conventional
approach to Program Events. These Program Events are more than milestones. They are maturity assessment
points in the program, where pre-defined deliverables are assessed to assure Technical Performance is being met
against the pre-defined metrics. As well that the pre-defined levels of risk are being retired or mitigated as
planned.
All these changes mean defining the technical and programmatic performance measures for the critical AC
describing what “done” looks like prior to starting the work.
Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 All Rights Reserved
Prepared by Glen B. Alleman
Niwot Ridge Consulting, LLC
4347 Pebble Beach Drive, Niwot Colorado 80503
Motivation of this Guide
“If a profession is to sharpen its skills, to
develop new skills and applications, and
to gain increasing respect and credibility,
then theory and practice must be closely
related” – Martin Shrub

Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step
Copyright © 2021, Glen B. Alleman, All Rights Reserved
There is no single source for the mandatory
use of IMP/IMS in the same way Earned Value
and the IMS.
However, the IMP references It start with the
EVMS standards, and is supported by DID
81861 and the Systems Engineering approach
of Event Based Performance Measurement.
Many proposals call for an “Event Based Plan,”
and provide the mandatory Events. The offeror
is requested to provide an IMP and connect
this to the IMS.
Source of IMP/IMS in Defense Acquisition
The IMP/IMS is called out in several acquisition guide, but the instructions on how to development and apply
IMP/IMS starts with “Integrated Master Plan and Integrated Master Schedule, Preparation and Use Guide, Version
0.9, October 21, 2005. This guide is not the only source of guidance for developing an IMP and IMS. Each
government program may have its own guidelines.
Part 2.B.3 Acquisition Strategies, Exit Criteria, and Risk Management
§ Event driven acquisition strategies and program plans must be
based on rigorous, objective assessments of a program’s status
and the plans for managing risk during the next phase and the
remainder of the program.
§ The acquisition strategy and associated contracting activities
must explicitly link milestone decision reviews to events and
demonstrated accomplishments in development, testing, and
initial production.
§ The acquisition strategy must reflect the interrelationships and
schedule of acquisition phases and events based on the logical
sequence of demonstrated accomplishments not on fiscal or
calendar expediency.
DoD Inst 5000.2, Operation of Defense Acquisition System, May 12, 2003
§ EVM is a regulatory Information Requirement
§ Implement EVM Guidelines in ANSI/EIA–748C
Defense Acquisition Handbook June 7, 2016, Chapter 11.3.1.4.2 (Replaced DoD 5000.2–R)
§ Guidance on previous policy
§ Revised EVM contents in Chapter 11
Basic Requirements for EVMS
§ Earned Value Management System (EVMS) in compliance with ANSI/EIA–748 is required on all cost or incentive
contracts equal to or greater than $20M.
§ A formally validated and accepted EVMS is required for cost or incentive contracts equal to or greater than
$50M.
§ EVM may be imposed on contracts less than $20M as a risk–based decision of the program manager based on a
cost/benefit analysis.
DFARS Clauses
§ Notice of Earned Value Management System (MAR 2005), DFARS 252.242–7001.
§ Earned Value Management System (MAR 2005), DFARS 252.242–7002.
Data Requirements
§ For contracts greater than $20M
§ Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) DI-MGMT-81861
§ Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) (DID DI–MGMT–81861) is required
§ A product–oriented Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS) in accordance with the DoD WBS Handbook
(MIL–STD–881C) and the CWBS DID (DI–MGMT–81334D) is mandatory when EVM is implemented and an IPMR
and an IMS are required.
§ For contracts that require Contractor Cost Data Reports (CCDRs), the CWBS will be developed, approved, and
maintained in accordance with DoD 5000.4–M–1, Cost and Software Data Reporting Manual, and the CWBS DID.
§ A single CWBS will be developed and maintained for all contractor reporting.
§ A Contract Funds Status Report (CFSR) (DI–MGMT–81468) is required.

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§ No specific dollar thresholds are established for the CFSR, but application to contracts of less than $1.5M should
be carefully evaluated.
More Guidance
§ Systems Engineering Handbook, A Guide for system life-cycle-processes and activities, Fourth Edition,
§ DFARS 252.242–7001 and 252.242–7002 will be applied to all contracts requiring EVM in the interim period until
the new DFARS clauses are approved and published.
§ However, for contracts equal to or greater than $20M but less than $50M the SOW must contain a special
statement that excludes the requirement for the Government to formally validate/accept the contractor’s
management system (no validation review).
The Concept of Event Based Planning as “Strategy Making”
Every project manager is looking for a “winning” strategy to manage projects.
§ Programmatic architecture defines the creation of increasing value as the schedule moves from left to right. The
evaluation of this increasing value is performance through review and evaluation events. At each Event the
predefined maturity and its associated value is evaluated for compliance with the plan.
§ These Events are capability assessment points in the program. These Events are mini- “Authorizations to
Proceed.” At each Event, the program is assessed for its planned maturity as defined in the Review Entry and Exit
criteria. A source of this criterion through CDR can be found at the NAVAIR site.
§ The capabilities available at each event can be substantiated using Significant Accomplishments (SA) and their
Accomplishment Criteria (AC).
§ Completion of each Significant Accomplishment and their Accomplishment Criteria are the physical measures of
the existence of the capability. This is the definition of Physical Percent Complete.
§ The program’s work tasks produce the products or services that enable the capabilities needed by the program.
§ The critical concept is that no work should be performed that does not result in the increasing maturity of a
capability
§ Identifying this work should be performed for a needed capability for each program event. This is the connection
between vertical (IMP) and horizontal (IMS).
§ The IMS describes the work required to produce the Significant Accomplishments (SA). The assessment that this
work has resulted in an acceptable conclusion is defined in the narrative of the Accomplishment Criteria (AC).
§ The strategy for successfully completing the program is stated in the logical sequences of the Significant
Accomplishments. As the SAs move through their logical sequence, the products and services they produce
increase in their maturity for each Program Event (PE).
Strategy Making, IMP/IMS and a Systems Engineering Process
Building products or providing services using IMP/IMS within a systems engineering context is a step-by-step
process:
1. Create a vision of the outcome – this is usually described in the Concept of Operations
2. Analyze the current situation – performance an Analysis of Alternatives
3. Determine a strategy for moving from the current situation to the outcome – what “maturity increasing”
activities must be performed to move forward
4. Select the systems development activities needed to make this move – these are the Significant
Accomplishments for each Program Event
5. Draft a plan based on these activities – arrange the SAs in a logical sequence for each Program Event
6. Perform a pilot set of activities to confirm they result in desirable outcomes
7. Evaluate these results – “test” the logic of the SAs to assure increasing maturity will result
8. Execute the processes in steps 6 and 7 until the outcome is reached – develop the Accomplishment
Criteria for each SA and the top activities for each AC.
This extremely simple-minded approach is the basis of all credible development activities. The challenge comes in
finding how the details of each step are to be defined, developed, executed. This is the purpose of this document.

Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step
Copyright © 2021, Glen B. Alleman, All Rights Reserved
IMP/IMS Step By Step Table of Contents
1 First Principles of IMP/IMS.................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 IMP/IMS Features and Benefits.................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 IMP/IMS is a Systems Engineering Process not a Scheduling Process ......................................................... 6
1.3 Step by Step for Building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) ........................................................................ 8
1.4 Creating a Fully Integrated IMP/IMS.......................................................................................................... 12
1.5 Some Definitions Needed for IMP/IMS...................................................................................................... 13
1.6 Increasing Maturity is the Only Measure of Progress ................................................................................ 15
1.7 Logical Flow of Tasks within the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS).......................................................... 19
1.8 Decomposing the System........................................................................................................................... 20
1.9 Process Flow of the IMP and IMS Elements ............................................................................................... 22
1.10 Link Vertically within an Event ................................................................................................................... 23
1.11 Link Horizontally within an Event............................................................................................................... 25
1.12 Link Horizontally across Events .................................................................................................................. 26
1.13 Integrating the IMP and IMS with Earned Value........................................................................................ 28
1.14 Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 32
2 Process Flow to Build The Integrated Master Plan (IMP).................................................................................... 33
2.1 Defining the Program Events...................................................................................................................... 37
2.2 Defining the Significant Accomplishment for each Program Event............................................................ 38
2.3 Defining the ACs for each SA...................................................................................................................... 40
3 Building the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) .................................................................................................. 41
3.1 Building a CDRLs plan ................................................................................................................................. 42
3.2 The Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)....................................................................................................... 42
3.3 Structuring the IMS .................................................................................................................................... 43
4 The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)............................................................................................................... 44
4.1 To Indent or Not Indent That is the Question ............................................................................................ 45
4.2 Capturing the AC contents ......................................................................................................................... 45
4.3 Building the IMS ......................................................................................................................................... 46
4.4 Connecting Cost and Schedule................................................................................................................... 48
5 Integrating Cost and Schedule ............................................................................................................................ 49
5.1 Dollarized RAM........................................................................................................................................... 49
5.2 Cross Reference of all Materials................................................................................................................. 50
5.3 Resource Assignments, Loading and Leveling............................................................................................ 50
5.4 Establishing the Earned Value.................................................................................................................... 50
6 Working on an Execution Team .......................................................................................................................... 54
6.1 Integrating the Individual Event Schedules................................................................................................ 54
6.2 Defining the Functional Technical flows..................................................................................................... 54
6.3 Executing the Performance Measurement Baseline.................................................................................. 54
6.4 Business Rhythms....................................................................................................................................... 54
6.5 IMS Architecture and Execution................................................................................................................. 54
7 Working on a Proposal Team .............................................................................................................................. 55
7.1 Iterative and Incremental development of the IMP/IMS........................................................................... 56
7.2 Focus On Only Three (3) Things A Day For The Team................................................................................. 57
7.3 Have Automation ....................................................................................................................................... 57
7.4 Working On A Team ................................................................................................................................... 57
7.5 Never Leave the Room Without It ............................................................................................................. 58

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7.6 Better Is The Enemy Of Good Enough........................................................................................................ 58
7.7 Vertical Linking ........................................................................................................................................... 59
7.8 Horizontal Linking....................................................................................................................................... 60
8 References........................................................................................................................................................... 61
Tables
Table 1 – the use of IMP/IMS provides direct benefits to the program not found in traditional approaches. Each of
these benefits needed to be tested in practice by defining the Program Management Plan (PMP) processes
that produce the behaviors needed to deliver the benefits. Simply stating the benefits are present is not
sufficient. And actual plan to deliver the benefits is needed................................................................................ 5
Table 2 – Each step in the development of the IMP builds an increasing fidelity of the final product...................... 10
Table 3 – Sample definitions of IMP verbs. Sometime the RFP provides a list of these verbs. Sometimes the verbs
come from the standard procedures of the firm. In all cases, a dictionary of verbs is needed and should be
limited to those verbs that describe actual outcomes meaningful to the customer and the provider. ............. 17
Table 4 – Action verbs to be used as the first word for each Task in the IMS. These verbs complement the verbs
used at the end of the description of the IMP elements. ................................................................................... 19
Table 5 – These 10 processes must be implemented in order for Earned Value to be useful in the IMP/IMS
environment. These concepts are taken directly from “Earned Value Project Management: A Powerful Tool for
Software Projects,” Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman, Cross Talk, July 1998.............................................. 32
Table 6 – Not everyone is “wired up” to work on a proposal team. The success criteria for a proposal team member
starts with some training on how the manage a proposal, which can be found in books and the class room as
well as formal “on the job” training with a proposal management firm. However, more importantly are the
personality attributes of a proposal team member............................................................................................ 55
Figures
Figure 1 – The IMP and the IMS are a hierarchy of Program descriptions, each connected through a single parent
and multiple children. This “well formed” tree topology is critical to the measurement of increasing maturity
of the program. ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
Figure 2 – The DOD 5000.2 process model needs to be understood in order to define the types of maturity
assessment processes for Accomplishment Criteria. “Done” has a different definition in a Concept and
technology Development program than it does for a Product and Deployment Program and even more
different for an Operational Support program. .................................................................................................... 7
Figure 3 – The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) are part of an overall
Programmatic Architecture that starts with the RFP and ends with the execution of the program. The IMP and
the supporting IMS are the framework for the execution of the program as well the framework for the
programmatic win themes of the proposal........................................................................................................... 9
Figure 4 – Connecting the Statement of Work to the Contract Work Breakdown Structure, to the Integrated Master
Plan, to the Integrated Master Schedule and finally to the Basis of Estimate. The traceability between these
artifacts should be the IMP/IMS number. However, in many cases, this is not possible. The WBS is the next
best trace number, if the WBS is well formed. In the absence of a well formed WBS, the IMP/IMS number is
the best hope of connecting the programmatic aspects with the technical maturity aspects of a program. .... 13
Figure 5 – The content of the IMP elements (Event, Accomplishment, Criteria) makes use of a sentence ending in a
past tense verb. There are a limited number of these verbs of most IMPs. They defined the state of the
product or service that results from the activities that compose the Accomplishment Criteria – the tasks of the

Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step
Copyright © 2021, Glen B. Alleman, All Rights Reserved
IMS. learning to speak in the past tense of the basis of the IMP. Describing what “done” looks like requires a
past tense verb be connected with “done.”........................................................................................................ 16
Figure 6 – The source of guidance and materials for building the IMP and the IMS comes from a variety of sources.
Some of official guidance from the government. Some from the RFP and many from training and guidance
sources available on the web, through courses and books................................................................................. 20
Figure 7 – The flow from requirements to WBS to tasks is replicated in the IMP and IMS. This traceability of critical
in both the proposal environment, mandated by the §L and §M guidelines and the execution environment for
the EVMS collection of physical progress to plan. .............................................................................................. 21
Figure 8 – The connections between the IMP and IMS elements is used to demonstrate the increasing mature of
the program. These flows can also be connected to the Cross Reference Matrix (CRM) required in most
proposals. As well traceability for program performance (EVMS measures) is provided through the IMP and
IMS elements from various points of view.......................................................................................................... 22
Figure 9 – The connections of tasks within the AC must land on the place holder for the AC. Because Microsoft
Project does not allow linkage to Summary Tasks (Primavera calls these hammock task), an ersatz task is
needed to “hold the place” of the AC. The same is the case for the SA and PE. With these place holders and
complete “network” can be constructed for the IMS and IMP. No widows or orphans for any element. ......... 24
Figure 10 – The linkage to the SA and then to the PE is done in the same way the linkage from the Tasks within the
AC. This linkage is critical in maintaining the vertical nature of the IMP while providing the basis for the
horizontal connections of the IMS. Both Vertical and Horizontal connections are needed in the end. ............. 24
Figure 11 – Connections between Accomplishment Criteria – The only horizontal connections, others than the start
of a collection of tasks from an SA or PE, is made from the predecessor AC to the first task in the Successor AC.
In this way, the dependencies between collections of work are isolated to the completion of the previous
collection of work. This topology improves the visibility into “done” and isolates partially completed work from
be consumed by downstream activities resulting in “re work” once it is completed......................................... 26
Figure 12 – the horizontal connections between program files – the individual Program Events – is made through a
Send (SND) and Receive (RCV) field. These connections are then made into actual predecessor and successor
connections in a Master File through a VBA macro that locates matching pairs and inserts the proper linkage.
............................................................................................................................................................................. 27
Figure 13 – Microsoft Project Server 2007 provides an “out of the box” solution to the inter-file dependency issues
described above – the DELIVERABLES field. This approach can replace the Visual Basic macros needed to
connect the files.................................................................................................................................................. 28
Figure 14 – the process flow for developing the IMP should be strictly followed. It has been shown that not
following this flow leads to confusion and rework of the IMP elements. Each step must be evaluated for its
completeness and suitability for use. If this is not done rework and lost work will result. In the proposal
environment, time and resources are limited. Managing the proposal as a “time boxed” project is the starting
point for success.................................................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 15 – a sample of an IMP produced from a Microsoft Project file. This view is taken from the place holders in
the file that represent the individual IMP elements. The IMP numbering is inserted by a macro as well as the
prefix in front of each IMP phrase. The phrase contents are taken from the summary tasks in the Gantt view of
the file. ................................................................................................................................................................ 36
Figure 16 – defining the Significant Accomplishments for a Program Event in this way shows both the increasing
maturity and the IPT streams that produce this maturity. The development of this “picture” of the Program
Event takes place using a Mini–Product Kaizen. Systems Engineering and Planning and Controls sit in a room
and work out the process flow of the SAs for the Event. From this structure, the IMP can be developed
directly. This is a much better approach then just listing the SAs and the resulting ACs in a linear manner. .... 38

Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step
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Figure 17 – The notional concept of an IMP and an IMS describes the Tasks needed to complete the
Accomplishment Criteria (AC). These Accomplishment Criteria in turn define the increasing maturity of the
work products in support of the Significant Accomplishments........................................................................... 41
Figure 18 – Linking the tasks to the Accomplishment Criteria within each AC first is the process used to maintain
the integrity of the AC before starting to link between ACs. This structure is the basis of individual Work
Packages that can then be measured with Physical Percent Complete for the Work Package and Apportioned
Milestones within the Work Package itself......................................................................................................... 47
Figure 19 – one approach that has worked well in the past is to have a “preamble” on the front of each Program
Event file that contains the Event names, dates, and deadlines. This information should be kept in a separate
MSFT Project file and updated through a macro, either from a database our an internal process. Single source
– multiple use keeps everything straight. Linking from within the body of the Program Event file is the way to
isolate the events. Then the preamble is linked to the Master Program Event file when all the files are
assembled into a single Master File .................................................................................................................... 59

Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step
Glen B. Alleman, Copyright © 2021 1 | P a g e
§ The Integrated Master Plan / Integrated
Master Schedule (IMP/IMS) defines and
tracks the increasing maturity of a Program
through programmatic and technical
performance measures.
§ The IMS is a vertically integrated execution
schedule traceable to the Integrated Master
Plan (IMP).
§ Once this vertical traceability has been
established, the horizontal dependencies
can be defined.
§ The IMP is an Event Based plan, not a time
based schedule. The IMS is time based
representation of the achievements needed
for the defined program maturity of
deliverables described in the Program
Events
1 First Principles of IMP/IMS
The terms Integrated, Master, Plan, and Schedule have special
meaning in the IMP/IMS paradigm. These meanings are different
from traditional project management usage:
§ Integrated – vertical and horizontal traceability between the
planned work, the Program Events, and the customer
requirements defined in the RFP, Statement of Work, Statement
of Objectives and the supporting documents (CDRLs, DRDs and
DIDs).
§ Master – the all-in plan and schedule defined at three levels of
detail.
§ Plan – the strategy for completing the project. This plan
represents the increasing maturity of the program through
Program Events (PE), Significant Accomplishments (SA), and
their Accomplishment Criteria (AC).
§ Schedule – the sequence of work activities needed to fulfill the
Accomplishment Criteria (AC).
Managing projects using IMP/IMS is new to many organizations
and "old hat" to others. From the current US Department of Defense Guideline:
§ The IMP and IMS are business tools that enhance the management of development, acquisition, modification,
and sustainment programs. They provide a systematic approach to program planning, scheduling, and
execution. They are equally applicable to competitive and sole source procurements with industry, as well as
Government in-house efforts. They provide a tool for improved day–to–day program execution and for ongoing
insight into program status by both Government program office personnel and contractor personnel. They help
develop and support “what–if” exercises and to identify and assess candidate problem workarounds.
§ The IMP is an event–based plan consisting of a hierarchy of program events, with each event being supported by
specific accomplishments, and each accomplishment associated with specific criteria to be satisfied for its
completion. The IMP is normally part of the contract and thus contractually binding. The IMP is a narrative
explaining the overall management of the program.
The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and the
associated Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) are
composed of five (5) tiers shown in Figure 1.
Program Events – are periodic assessments of the
program’s maturity through reviews or physical
demonstration of the Significant Accomplishments.
Significant Accomplishments – are the Entry Criteria
for the Program Events.
Accomplishment Criteria – are the Exit Criteria for
the work effort. The AC describes what “done” looks
like for the collection of Tasks. Each AC is the
terminal activity for this collection of Tasks in the
network of activities.
Tasks – are the first level work effort (Work
Packages) needed to fulfill the Accomplishment
Criteria. These Tasks are “self-contained” within the
ACs and produce the deliverables that fulfill the
“exit criteria.” Their duration defines the duration of
the AC. Care is needed to understand and deploy
this approach to avoid having tasks that span more
than one Program Event. If this is the case, the Tasks
Figure 1 – The IMP and the IMS are a hierarchy of Program
descriptions, each connected through a single parent and multiple
children. This “well formed” tree topology is critical to the
measurement of increasing maturity of the program.

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and the resulting ACs and SAs must be split into smaller collections of work that remain within the boundaries of
the Project Event. This is a critical concept in the development of the Vertical IMS traceability.
All work in the IMS is vertically traceable to the Program Events – this is the definintion of a well formed plan
Supplemental Schedules – detailed execution schedules for each task within an Accomplishment Criteria (AC). The
first level tasks within the AC are usually the top-level activities of a Work Package. The supplemental schedules
are private schedules usually held by the CAMs, describing the details of how these Work Package activities will be
executed. The details of these supplemental schedules are many times the basis of the physical percent complete
reporting system for the Work Package.
Increasing Levels of Detail Connect Physical Progress with Increasing Maturity
The IMP/IMS paradigm contains four levels of increasing detail. All levels are needed for success. No level cab be
skipped or be missing. All milestones, deliverables, maturity assessment points must be traceable through all levels
of the IMP/IMS.
§ Program Master Schedule (PMS) – Presents the Contract Period of Performance (POP), Program Events (PE), Key
Milestones, Major Program Deliverables, and Reports Progress at a Summary Level. The Program Master
Schedule includes the First Level WBS and Significant, Measurable Events for Each Level–Two WBS Element.
§ Integrated Master Plan (IMP) – Identifies Program Events (PE), Significant Accomplishments (SA), and
Accomplishment Criteria (AC). The Program Master Schedule establishes the Structure, Parameters & Basis for
the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) Development.
§ Integrated Master schedule (IMS) – The IMS is a logic network schedule of program planned activities keyed to
the IMP’s accomplishment criteria. The IMS is the basis of the performance measurement system; common
element integrating cost, schedule, and performance. The IMS is constructed to provide integrated planning to
the work package task level, provides horizontal and vertical traceability for this work and summarization of
information and critical path identification and analysis.
§ Supplemental Schedules – are created – as needed – to provide lower levels of detail within the AC schedules.
The supplemental schedules are summarized in the IMS and are part of the program’s Performance
Measurement Baseline (PMB). The Supplemental Schedules support control account schedules and the
management of day–to–day operations. These schedules are held by the CAMs and are not on baseline.
However, these schedules are critical to the execution of the IMS, since they contain the details of how the
program will be executed at the day–to–day level.
The Core Concept of Event Based Scheduling is Measuring Planned Maturity
The challenge in developing a credible plan and the supporting schedules is to ensure that all identified activties
move the program forward in a measureable way. The “units of measure” of this movement must be meaningful
to all the program’s participants and be assessible through the performance management processes by the
Program Planning and Controls (PP&C) staff. The first impulse is to use the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as
the means of organizing the program plan and schedules. Event based planning and scheduling provides an
alternative approach for several benefits:
§ Measuring the increasing maturity of the products and services produced by the work effort must be directly
connected to the value produced by the program for the customer. This is sometimes referred to a Capabilities
Based Planning. The program plan states what capabilities will be available at what time, how these capabilities
will be described and assessed and how these measures will be made visible in the plans and schedules.
§ By isolating all work to Accomplishment Criteria “containers,” the measurement of progress can be described by
the Exit Criteria of this collection of work. This removes the default concept of measuring progress by the
passage of time and consumption on money.

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The term Integrated Master Schedule
(IMS) should not be confused with a
“schedule.” The IMS is derived from the
Integrated Master Plan (IMP). Without
this derivation – direct traceability of
Tasks to the Accomplishment Criteria, the
Significant Accomplishments, and the
Program Event – the “schedule” is not
integrated. It is simply a schedule.
Possibly a useful schedule. But not an
Integrated Master.
Schedule.
Without the discipline of vertical
integration, the “schedule” turns into the
all too familiar rat’s nest of tasks. The
structural integrity, visible flow of
increasing maturity and credibility is
described in a robust, resilient, and risk
tolerant schedule is then lost.
Product v. Functional goes to the core of defining “what does done look like?”
In the Functional approach to planning, “done” means the conclusion of the allotted time period of performance.
This is not literally true, since deliverables result in the task effort performed by the functional units. In the Product
approach to planning, “done” is defined upfront in the SA/AC descriptions. The accomplishments and the criteria
state explicitly what must be “done” in order to complete an Event. This inversion of the definition of “done,” from
the passage of time and reaching a milestone, to the description of the deliverables creates a new vocabulary for
planning. Approaching each planning activity from the view of “what does done look like?” is the starting point of
IMP/IMS. Once the answers to this question are developed, the planning of task durations becomes straight
forward – well as straight forward as possible – since the outcome has been defined.
§ The “hard part” is IMP/IMS is changing our habits of defining the tasks first – instead we must define “what done
looks like” first and only then define how to get to “done.”
§ Defining the events, the accomplishments that result from the event, the criteria for assessing the maturity of
the accomplishment is the cycle of an IMP/IMS planner.
§ Gathering the raw materials for IMP/IMS is straight forward if approached in an iterative / incremental manner.
§ The difficulty is avoiding the natural tendency to arrange the raw materials in a time phased order by work
effort.
§ Continually asking the question, “What does done look like” reinforces the IMP/IMS approach. If you are not
asking questions and getting answers for “what does done look like” on event boundaries, then you are not
doing IMP/IMS.
The Beneficial Outcome of Using IMP/IMS to Manage a Program
During the actual program execution, the IMP and IMS provide a
framework for insight into the contractor's performance for both
the program or project office and for the contractor's management
team. The IMP and IMS when properly integrated with EVM
through a sound technical management approach as documented
enables the program or project office to:
§ Identify and assess actual progress versus the planned progress
– this is done through the Earned Value processes at the Task
level. Each Task in an AC has some EV measurement. This should
be predominately 0/100 measures for short to moderate
duration tasks. Some firms limit task duration to 45 elapsed days
for the current rolling wave. The culture of this approach may
not be in every firm but limited the duration to some reasonable
time is critical to successfully managing performance. The
assessment of actual performance must come from Physical
Percent Complete. This means defining up front how the Earned
Value (BCWP) will be recognized for each task and the Work
Package as a whole. The simple formula of Percent Complete X
BCWS is fine as a percent compete. However, the “percent
complete” cannot be an opinion. It needs to be an assessable measure of the actual physical progress of the
Task.
§ Monitor the program critical path and help develop workarounds to problem areas – the concept of a Critical
Path is more than the path through the program with zero (0) or small Total Slack. It needs to be the “logical”
critical path defined by the subject matter experts. This definition then needs to be reflected in the IMS.
§ Assess program maturity – program maturity is best assessed through Technical Performance Measures (TPM).
Systems engineering uses technical performance measurements to balance cost, schedule, and performance
throughout the life cycle. Technical performance measurements compare actual versus planned technical
development and design. They also report the degree to which system requirements are met in terms of
performance, cost, schedule, and progress in implementing risk handling. Performance metrics are traceable to

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user–defined capabilities. The IMS then connects actual versus planned progress (through the physical percent
complete) with the technical actual versus planned progress.
§ Assess the status of risk management activities based on the inclusion of the program risk mitigation activities in
the IMP and IMS – this programmatic risk starts with the modeled variance in the duration of tasks. This variance
can be defined by a Most Likely, Optimistic, and Pessimistic estimate. This has calibration issues, since each
person supplying these estimates has a different opinion of what is meant by optimistic, pessimistic, and even
most likely. An ordinal ranking method is more reliable but itself needs calibration
§ Assess the progress on selected Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and Technical Performance Measures
(TPMs) – the units of measure for the Technical Performance Measure needs to be connected with the Key
Performance Parameters of the Integrated Master Schedule. This connection answers the questions: how are we
doing against our plan?
§ Provide an objective, quantitative basis for the performance assessment – the IMP and IMS should be the basis
of objective and quantitative performance programmatic measures of the aspects of the program. This means
that the simple passage of time and consumption of resource is not a good measure of this performance. Only
by predefining the “units of measure,” starting with the technical performance measures, can the IMS be
considered credible?
§ Develop and support “what–if” scenarios, and to identify and assess candidate problem workarounds –
alternative paths, cost models, and risk adjusted estimates to complete are the raw materials for the “what if”
assessment of the IMS.
§ Provide better insight into potential follow–on efforts that were not part of the original contract award. For
example, the contractor should be able to more clearly define the activities, new interfaces, and other clarifying
information necessary for a potential program increment or contract option.
Changing the Program Planning Paradigm from Horizontal to Vertical
Building an IMP / IMS requires a change in the normal paradigm of project management. This change means
stopping the measurement of progress as the passage of time and consumption of funding to measuring progress
by the completion of Accomplishment Criteria and the fulfillment of Significant Accomplishments.
It means moving from horizontal scheduling to vertical planning. These words are probably meaningless at this
point. The role of this step–by– step guide is to provide an understanding of this concept, the benefits to the
project management, and the processes needed to deliver these benefits. In many cases, the horizontal schedules
are the starting point for the program. This occurs for several reasons:
§ The program started without an IMP or a real IMS. They first built a horizontal schedule in the manner of “shop
floor” schedule. This is usually for the Period of Performance of the Program.
§ The program was inherited from a higher or lower-level process. Either as a subcontractor or a part of on IPT
team, the schedule is focused on the functional aspects of the program.
In many cases, the conversation from horizontal to vertical is required or desired. The effort to do this
conversation involves several steps:
§ Identify the Program Events and where in the schedule these events take place.
§ Identify which work in the schedule “lands” on which event. If there is work that crosses an Event boundary,
then it will need to be “broken” into two (2) parts. One that “lands” on the Event and one that restarts at the
completion of the Event.
Work Breakdown Structure Paradigm versus the IMP/IMS Paradigm
§ Work Breakdown Structure –The WBS provides a basic framework for identifying each element of a project in
increasing levels of detail. In essence, it describes the way work is performed. The WBS also provides a coherent
method for reporting progress toward plan goals. If the schedule is WBS focused, cost tracking is possible, work
packages can be defined, and the outcomes of these work packages can be made visible. However, the
increasing of the maturity of the program is not explicitly visible from the outside.
§ Integrated Master Plan – The IMP is an event–based plan depicting the overall structure of the program and the
key processes, activities, and milestones. It defines accomplishments and criteria for each event. With the IMP,
the increasing maturity of the program is stated explicitly in the Significant Accomplishments (SA) and their

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If you wish to persuade me, you must
think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and
speak my words. — Cicero, Roman
Statesman (106 BC)
Accomplishment Criteria (AC). The WBS can be assigned to the Tasks in each AC so cost can be traced to specific
work.
The IMP should be constructed from the logical decomposition of the Program Events, Significant
Accomplishments, and their Accomplishment Criteria – not from the Work Breakdown Structure. This approach
causes problems with the traditionalist, because they see the world through the WBS. The WBS and the CWBS are
cost accounting structures, not program maturity assessment structures. The WBS and CWBS are important
program performance measurement processes – they capture costs and assign these costs to the produced
products and services. However, the WBS and CWBS does not provide any measurement of progress in terms of
increasing maturity. That is the role of the IMP and the supporting IMS.
Constructing the IMP and IMS with the WBS in mind may be required by contract, since separation of the work
may be driven by the cost accounting processes. Resisting the lure of WBS and CWBS structuring is difficult. Ask
the question – how does this structure reveal the increasing maturity of the program? What are the units of
measure of this maturity in terms meaningful to the customer? How can the structure show the flow of maturity
using a single notation?
1.1 IMP/IMS Features and Benefits
The IMP and IMS focus on specific areas of the program, which
have been shown to be problems with more traditional
approaches. The primary focus is on program maturity Event based
planning provides a “singularly” focused process allowing each IPT
to answer the question – “what do I need to do for a specific
event?” For example, PDR: List all the accomplishments needed for
PDR? What activities need to be performed for each of these accomplishments? When all the activities are
completed, the criteria satisfied, and the accomplishments completed then a measurement of “maturity” can take
place?
Features of IMP/IMS Benefits to the Program
Provides an understanding and alignment
of required tasks with events starting with
the proposal
Drives down cost of execution by connecting changes with the impact of
changes that occur early in the program life cycle when costs are lower are
made visible from day one.
Integrates relationships of products and
development processes
Improves management visibility by connecting activities with events Permits
better understanding of risk and how it impacts cost, schedule, performance
A disciplined approach to planning and
implementation activities
Provides a framework for using integrated tools, teams, and processes with
vertical traceability Serves as foundation for systematic programmatic
improvement efforts
Iterative planning, tracking, and reporting
process
Allows program flexibility – on ramps and off ramps tied to events Highlights
details early – ties maturity events with activities
Event–Driven Planning
Relates program events in terms of success – Accomplishments and Criteria
Reduces risk by ensuring that maturity of the plan is incrementally
demonstrated prior to starting follow–on activities
Increases visibility of entire program to
the program team
Improves measurable maturity and impact analysis Promotes program buy–in
and team commitment through shared events Fosters proactive management at
all levels through measurable outcomes
Resource and Earned Value Loadable Provides foundation for Earned Value Reporting and EVMS
Key customer events included Encourages a win–win attitude with customers
Clear communication of how the team
views the program
Improves effectiveness through a common set of tools, measurements and
defined outcomes
Table 1 – The use of IMP/IMS provides direct benefits to the program not found in traditional approaches. Each of these benefits needed to be
tested in practice by defining the Program Management Plan (PMP) processes that produce the behaviors needed to deliver the benefits.
Simply stating the benefits are present is not sufficient. And actual plan to deliver the benefits is needed.

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Systems engineering is the intellectual,
academic, and professional discipline
whose principle concern is the
responsibility of practicing Systems
Engineers in a system design and
acquisition project to ensure that all
requirements for the system are satisfied
through the life cycle(s) of the system.
— Wayne Wymore, Professor Emeritus of
Systems and Industrial Engineering,
University of Arizona
1.2 IMP/IMS is a Systems Engineering Process not a Scheduling Process
Building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master
Schedule (IMS) is a Systems Engineering process. This means that
systems engineering processes are used to construct the IMP and
the supporting IMS. The processes of Systems Engineering
While this may seem a bit out of place in a planning and scheduling
discussion, the concept of Programmatic Architecture fits well with
the concept of Systems Architecture. It is the Systems approach
that is the basis on building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP). This
approach defines and answers questions like:
§ How does the program define Technical Performance Measures?
How will these TPMs be connected to the IMS?
§ What are the units of measure of maturity?
§ What is the unit of measure of credibility, as in: “Do we have a credible schedule?” In addition, if we claim we
do: “How can it be proven to others?”
Systems Thinking is the Basis of a Success IMP/IMS Development and Deployment
The principles of Systems Engineering are founded on concepts important to the development of the IMP and IMS:
§ System exists throughout the natural and man–made world, wherever we have complex behavior “emerging”
from the interaction between things.
§ We can only fully understand such behavior by considering “complete systems” as they interact within their
“natural” environment.
To solve complex “System Problems” we must engineer complete “System Solutions,” through a combination of:
§ The ability to understand, describe, predict, specify, and measure the ways in which elements of a complex
system affect whole system behavior.
§ The ability to apply “Traditional” engineering knowledge to create, modify or use system elements to manipulate
or maintain whole system behavior.
§ The ability to organize, manage and resource projects in such a way as to achieve the above aims, within realistic
constraints of cost, time, and risk.
What is a System – from the View of Systems Engineering?
A system is – A set of Interacting Elements that form an Integrated Whole with a Common Goal or Purpose.
Some more important concepts in Systems Engineering applicable to IMP/IMS:
§ Holism – considers the Whole–System, in its environment, through its Whole–Life. The IMP shows the entire
period of performance for the Program. Each Program Event then has SAs and ACs for this performance period
as well. With the IMP in place, the whole is integrated from the parts. The IMS can then show the dependencies
and work activities to cause the ACs and SAs to appear.
§ System of Interest – collection of elements with a common identity, e.g., product, organization. The IMP is
focused on the increasing maturity of the delivered products. Using the WBS to collect costs for product
activities
§ Viable system – must include everything needed to maintain its existence and achieve its goals.
The consequences of this Holistic approach exposed the notion that the viability of the product relies on
interactions outside of its immediate (product) boundary. Those systems are engineered with the context of one or
more "containing systems."
As well, the concept of "emergence" becomes important. The system as a whole exhibits a property which is
meaningful only when attributed to the "whole" and not to its parts. The emergent properties vary with
environment and relationships with other systems.

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The consequences of emergence are that there is no guarantee from optimizing the parts of the system, or even
from the components independently. Changing the elements or their interactions within the system may affect its
properties, which can cause emergent property to change on a number of levels. 1
A General Systems Lifecycle is represented in the Flow of the IMP and its IMS
Understanding how IMP/IMS provides value to the management of projects starts with a general lifecycle model
for programmatic aspects of the project. The assumption is that programmatic architecture is equivalent to the
technical architecture in terms of interfaces, coupling and cohesion, and value stream flow.
§ State the problem – by identifying the customer, the customer’s needs, establishing the need for change,
discovering requirements, and defining the system functions.
§ Investigate alternatives – based on cost, schedule, and risk as measures of effectiveness
§ Model the system – should be developed for alternative product designs. The modeling processes allow
alternative assessment of schedule changes, sensitivity of change on cost and schedule that show the effect of
delays or accelerations of the product development.
§ Integrate – the systems, business, and people so they interact smoothly.
§ Launch the system – by running the system (processes) to produce the products
§ Assess performance – using figure of merit, technical performance measures, and metrics.
§ Reevaluate – by observing outputs and using this information to modify the system, its inputs, products or
processes
The US Department of Defense has a top-level project lifecycle, shown Figure 2. This “picture” is the highest level
of sequence for a program. When the discussion turns to “where are we in the Big Picture?” the answer can be,
“we’re in SDD headed to Milestone C.” For the actual development of an IMP/IMS, this level of understanding is
not very interesting. However, for a proposal team, it is important to understand what procurement guidance is
applicable for what phase of the program. For SDD programs there are difference guides for the outcomes than for
a post–Milestone–C program.
Figure 2 – The DOD 5000.02 process model needs to be understood in order to define the types of maturity assessment processes for
Accomplishment Criteria. “Done” has a different definition in a Concept and technology Development program than it does for a Product and
Deployment Program and even more different for an Operational Support program.
1
There is a counter example to this in Wayne Wymore’s “Subsystem Optimization Implies Systems Suboptimization: Not!” referenced in “The
Synthesis of Optimal System Design Solutions,” Systems Engineering, Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 92–105, 10 March 2003.

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§ Building the IMP is more than a process;
it is a way of thinking.
§ The IMP represents the programmatic
architecture and the implementation
strategy for delivering the products and
services represented by that
architecture.
§ The IMP is the logical flow of the
product’s increasing maturity,
measured in units meaningful to the
customer
Putting These Concepts to Work in IMP/IMS
The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) describes the strategy for completing the program as planned ‒ on budget, on
schedule, and compliant with Measures of Effective, Measures of Performance, Technical Performance Measures,
and Key Performance Parameters.
This is the role of a PLAN.
As such it represents the "Architecture" of the Program. The Programmatic Flow of increasing maturity of the
individual components of the program. These individual components – the Program Events – interact with each
other as a "System" of activities. The IMP process provides a disciplined approach to develop, implement, update,
maintain, and manage a Program through a single, comprehensive plan. The IMP is used to accomplish upfront
planning and commitment, provide a basis for subsequent detailed planning and scheduling, measure program
progress, and provide management with verification of progress enabling informed decisions.
The boundaries between these components are the Program Events and the horizontal dependencies between
these events.
1.3 Step by Step for Building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
There are several starting points for building the Integrated
Master Plan. The first is to put the IMP in the context of a
proposal and the execution of that proposal after award. The
second shows the step-by-step activities needed to build the IMP
in response to a proposal.
First let us look at the context of an overall program and how the
IMP fits. Figure 3 describes an “overview” of the IMP/IMS from
beginning of the proposal process to the execution of the
program. While this overview appears simple and straight forward
there are many subtle aspects not shown here. Figure 3 is really a
“data flow” of information between the stages of the IMP/IMS
development process. Much more understanding is needed before the value produced by IMP/IMS can be
produced.
The steps shown in Figure 3 are notional in one aspect but are actual processes in practice. More than just a simple
statement about building requirements or constructing the CWBS Dictionary is needed for a successful IMP/IMS. In
fact, many of the failures of IMP/IMS come from assuming the simple or notional examples can be put into
practice.
This is a good time to be reminded of Yogi Berra’s quote:
In theory there is no difference between Theory and Practice.
In Practice there is.
So, the only way forward is to build and rebuild the IMP and IMS,
testing them against the requirements and other assessments of
“Credibility.”
The IMP states what “done” looks like in Measures of Effectiveness
(MoE) of the delivered products or services. At each Program Event,
the Significant Accomplishments (SA) defines what maturity levels
must be achieved before the Program Event can be considered met.

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For each Significant Accomplishment, work must be performance to meet the Accomplishment Criteria (AC). These
are defined by the Measures of Performance (MoP). This “exit criteria” for the Packages of Work in the Integrated
Master Schedule (IMS) are “entry” criteria for the SAs.
Figure 3 – The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) are part of an overall Programmatic Architecture that starts
with the RFP and ends with the execution of the program. The IMP and the supporting IMS are the framework for the execution of the program
as well the framework for the programmatic win themes of the proposal.

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IMP IMS Development Steps
Understand the
Product
§ Identify Customer, the business processes, political aspects of the customer and any other
attributes.
§ Compile customer requirements from SOO, SOW, CDRLs and other applicable documents. These
documents define the master schedule and the deliverables around this schedule.
§ Document the ground rules and assumptions that describes how the Program Events, Significant
Accomplishments and their Accomplishment Criteria.
§ Clarify the product requirements by cross references all the customer document through the
Concept of Operations (ConOps).
Develop Product
Structure
§ Create Top Level CWBS that describes the product structure first, then the IPTs that will deliver
those products.
§ Assess structure for completeness and workability by asking “how will the components of the
product structure come together during the execution of the program?”
§ Is the assembling in a tree structure from the bottom to the top? Or is it scattered all over the
WBS/CWBS. If it is the latter, the WBS will be nothing but trouble during execution.
§ Write the CWBS dictionary. This is a narrative stating what is being delivered for each element of
the CWBS. It is from these descriptions that lower-level work efforts will be defined.
§ Define Teams – in terms of IPTs – who will deliver the products
§ Develop the top-level SOW task statement to assure the cross reference between the CWBS and
SOW
Form Integrated
Product Teams
§ Form teams and define leaders and key resources. These teams are accountable for deliverables
described in the WBS/CWBS.
§ Validate and extend the SOW, CWBS and CWBS dictionary across the IPTs for each product or
process.
Create Integrated
Master Plan
§ Select Key events and decision points using government provided Events and program maturity
assessment points that assure maturity is increasing and risk and being reduced.
§ Write the event descriptions describing the measurable outcomes of each event in terms of
maturity assessment and risk reduction.
§ Development the Significant Accomplishments (SA) and Accomplishment Criteria (SA) for each
Program Event in a top-down manner, with the focus on describing the increasing maturity of
the products resulting from the work held in the ACs.
§ Develop the vertical logic between the PE/SA/AC describing the logical flow of increasing
maturity, the physical assessment of the product’s performance against the Technical
Performance Criteria, and the dependencies between each Accomplishment Criteria.
§ Write the IMP process narratives in the form of a product specification.
§ Prepare a logic flow diagram for the SAs, showing increasing maturity of the products
Create Integrated
Master Schedule
§ Define high level Work Packages from the ACs. One WP / AC if possible
§ Decompose tasks within the WP on a single work sheet
§ Define the logic and dependencies between the ACs first. Only then connect task dependencies
§ Apply the schedule constraints
§ Establish work package and supporting task durations
§ Add resources at the work package level
§ Asses the critical paths
§ Perform schedule risk assessment
Generate Basis of
Estimate
§ Receive flow down of requirements and the cost estimating processes around them
§ Determine appropriate methods of defining costs
§ Estimate the hours
§ Review and adjust the costs to match the allocations
Table 2 – Each step in the development of the IMP builds an increasing fidelity of the final product.

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Understand the Product
Defining the program framework starts with understanding the product, the customer and the processes that will
be used to deliver the product. By first identifying all the discrete work scope and categorizing them into – who,
what, when, where, why and how categories, the pro duct structure can emerge.
Develop Product Structure
The product structure starts with the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
A Program WBS “… shall be established that provides a framework for program and technical planning, cost
estimating, resource allocations, performance measurements, and status reporting.” DODD 5000.2R
The WBS establishes the primary portioning of the product and work needed to produce the product. The WBS
outlines the products and services to be provided by the program in a “structured” manner where each product
and or service is traceable to its parent product and or service. The result is a “Product Tree” that decomposes the
program structure to a level where risks are made visible. This is usually Level 3 in the WBS.
The WBS defines the logical structure of the program. Summary points for assessing technical and programmatic
risk and the physical progress of the work activities. It is critical to not let the WBS be a representation of the
organizational structure of the program. If this is done the ability to measure physical progress through the
production of products or services is lost.
Form Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) and Align Their Work Efforts
“We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be
reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful
method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.”
– Petronius Arbiter (210 B.C.)
Align the Work Between the IPTs
§ Our team structure needs to reflect the most cost-efficient way of organizing the work
§ Our team structure needs to be sized according to the work required
§ Our teams must not be too big or too small to be functional
§ Our team structure needs to account for vertical (product) and horizontal (process, system) integration
§ Our team structure must not unnecessarily complicate integration or production
§ Our team structure must have clear scope borders — know where one team’s scope ends, and another team’s
scope begins
Integrate across the products to deliver the system-level configurations and data to the customer:
§ Integrate, analyze, assemble, and test configurations made up of modules developed and delivered by IPTs
§ Integrate program / system level data and CDRL items
§ Electronic Information System (EIS) or Integrated Data Environment (IDE) [both terms used in RFPs]
Own and audit the common program infrastructure resources employed by multiple teams:
§ Processes
§ Tools
§ Databases
§ Facilities
§ Equipment

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§ The term “integrated” in the IMP and IMS
paradigm means vertical and horizontal
integration of the work activities.
§ Vertical connectivity shows how the planned
maturity for each Program Event (PE) is
achieved.
§ Horizontal connectivity shows how the work
effort produces this maturity for the
Program Event (PE) and across Program
Events.
Create Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
Events are:
§ Project unique, key transition points between major program activities
§ Points of convergence across the entire program
§ Key decision points where it is necessary to assess progress in achieving objectives before proceeding
§ May include major DoD milestone reviews, program design reviews, tests, deliveries, and other key progress
demonstration or risk mitigation points
§ Should be well distributed over the program/project period, and not inordinately clustered
§ Not desirable to have too long a period pass without checking critical program progress
§ Avoid this by including an event such as a “Production In-Process Review” to gain timely program progress
visibility
Event definitions include the purpose and expected results. Events may be tied in the contract to award or
incentive fee payments, so they may affect the client’s cash flow too.
Create Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
The Integrated Master Schedule is derived directly from the IMP. It is not – nor should ever be – built bottom up
during the first round of IMS construction. In the IMP/IMS paradigm, all the work needed to move the program
forward in its maturity is defined by the Significant Accomplishments and their Accomplishment Criteria. Once
these are defined in the IMP, the physical work needed to produce the Accomplishment Criteria is obvious.
It is at this point the IMS construction can start. The IMS is built with some simple steps:
§ Identify each Accomplishment Criteria (AC) by name from the IMP
§ Build a single page data capture sheet that provides a limited number of “lines” for entering the tasks for the AC.
This sheet will contain the following information
§ The name of the task
§ The duration of the task
§ The ordinal risk ranking of the task
§ The predecessors and successors “within” the AC
§ The predecessor that starts the AC – this is the external AC that starts the current AC.
Generate the Basis of Estimate (BOE)
From the constructed IMS the next step is to determine the cost for this work. This can be derived in several ways:
§ Resource load the IMS in some simple way
§ Export the periods of performance for each work package into the Basis of Estimate tool and develop the cost
profiles
1.4 Creating a Fully Integrated IMP/IMS
Connecting the RFP's SOW to the CWBS to the IMP and the IMS
and to the BOE's is the ideal example of a fully integrated system
describing the programmatic architecture of any project. The
example of a fully integrated IMP and IMS shown in Figure 4 is an
ideal example and not usually found in practice. However, at a
minimum the understanding of how each component of the
integrated system relates to others.
By first connecting the Significant Accomplishments vertically, the
maturity assessment of the product or services can be defined for
each Program Event. Once vertically connected, horizontal
connections describe the work sequencing processes needed to produce this increasing maturity.

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Figure 4 describes the relationships between the program elements.
§ Statement of Work (SOW)
§ Contractor Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS)
§ Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
§ Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
§ Basis of Estimate (BOE)
Figure 4 – Connecting the Statement of Work to the Contract Work Breakdown Structure, to the Integrated Master Plan, to the Integrated
Master Schedule and finally to the Basis of Estimate. The traceability between these artifacts should be the IMP/IMS number. However, in
many cases, this is not possible. The WBS is the next best trace number, if the WBS is well formed. In the absence of a well-formed WBS, the
IMP/IMS number is the best hope of connecting the programmatic aspects with the technical maturity aspects of a program.
1.5 Some Definitions Needed for IMP/IMS
The terms used in the IMP/IMS domain may be new to the traditional planner. These terms are specific and well
defined. Resist redefining them for your local use. In many domains, the definition of these terms is provided by
the customer in the RFP or some guidance document.
Here are some examples of definitions used in the Integrated Master Plan (IMP):
§ Program Event (Event):
§ "Events should be envisioned as program reference points or milestones at which the Contractor and
Government jointly assess program status."

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§ "An event is a program assessment point that occurs at the culmination of significant program activities:
accomplishments and criteria."
§ “An IMP event is a key program milestone defined by the customer or the provider, which defines progress at
a specific point in time. IMP events mark the conclusion/initiation of intervals of major project activity and
serve as decision–oriented measures of project activity related to the project’s maturity assigned to a specific
subsystem or organizational element.”
§ “An Event is a program assessment point which occurs at the culmination of significant program activities
(Accomplishments and Criteria).”
§ Significant Accomplishment (Accomplishment)
§ "For each event, the Offeror shall state what progress is to be measured at the event. This breakdown of
principal tasks and activities become the Offeror's accomplishments."
§ "An accomplishment is the desired result(s) prior to or at completion of an event that indicates a level of the
program's progress."
§ “Significant accomplishments are critical efforts that must be completed prior to completing an event. The
accomplishments shall be sequenced in a manner that ensures a logical path is maintained throughout the
effort and tracks against key events.”
§ Accomplishment Criteria (Criteria)
§ "For each accomplishment, the Offeror shall state how progress is to be measured. Criteria should be stated
using objective methods to verify that the accomplishment has been achieved. The Offeror should be able to
document that the criteria have been satisfied. In total the criteria shall demonstrate that the
accomplishment has been achieved."
Criteria provide definitive evidence that a specific accomplishment has been completed.
§ “Accomplishment Criteria are measurable and useful indicators demonstrating the required level of maturity
and or progress has been achieved. Accomplishment Criteria include the use of Technical Performance
Measures and other metrics wherever possible to provide measurable criteria. Preferably the accomplishment
criteria should avoid the use of percent completed and avoid citing data item report numbers rather than
identifying and summarizing results.”
Program Event (PE) Maturity Assessment
The Program Event is a Maturity Assessment point in the Program. It asks and answers questions: Do we
understand the technical aspects of the program to a sufficient level at this point in time to proceed for?
§ Preliminary Design – define the attributes of “preliminary” as appropriate for the program.
§ Critical Design – critical design usually means the products or services are ready for first production runs. Define
the units of measure of this “readiness”
§ Integrated Baseline – are the cost, schedule, and technical baseline aligned and ready for execution?
§ Flight Readiness – are the products ready to “go flying”
There are many "check lists" for these Program Events. One place to look for these are the NAVAIR and Defense
Acquisition University y library site. The post–CDR events need similar check list.
Significant Accomplishment (SA) Maturity Assessment
For each Program Event (PE) a statement about the progress will be measures is contained in the Significant
Accomplishments. Significant Accomplishments define the Entry Criteria for the Program Events:
§ What is the maturity of the work products needed to successfully conduct the PE?
Specific knowledge about design, testing, performance, or other behaviors of the system
§ What program activities must have been conducted to successfully conduct the PE?
Specific process steps that must be performed prior to the Program Event.
Review, document production, meetings, "states" of relationships, organizational processes
There are both Product and Process maturity assessments that must take place as "entry" criteria.

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§ Defining the expected maturity of the
products or services at each assessment
point in the project is the basis of a
credible performance measurement
paradigm.
§ Measuring the increase in maturity
using Technical Performance Measures
(TPM) or tangible deliverables defines
the units of measure of success.
§ Using past tense verbs to describe
progress has a powerful effect on the
commitments to the outcome.
Accomplishment Criteria (AC) Maturity Assessment
For each Significant Accomplishment progress needs to be described in terms of tasks completed and the
measurement of those tasks. The Accomplishment Criteria (AC) documents the Exit Criteria for the collection of
tasks that move a product or service to the next level of maturity.
§ What is the maturity of the products produced from the work tasks for each AC?
§ How is this maturity assessed within the metrics of the Technical Performance Measures (TPM)?
Tasks are the Raw Material for the IMS
This is where the heavy lifting takes place. The work performed to deliver the "exit criteria" – the Accomplishment
Criteria (AC) which forms the "entry criteria" (the Significant Accomplishments) for the Program Event are the work
activities defined in the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
The tasks that compose the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) are defined through various examples:
§ “The Offeror shall provide an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) in Annex X that delineates the Offeror's planned
schedule for all activities, events, milestones, and critical paths associated with all program efforts in accordance
with DID DI–MGMT 81650. The IMS shall include the program schedule with technical tasks and activities
necessary to complete the work effort scoped within the IMP. The program's critical path(s), based on critical
path analyses, shall be identified in the IMS. The Offeror shall develop the IMS in accordance with MIL–HDBK
881A (as a guide). The Offeror shall provide in the submitted IMS all contractors tasks, events, milestones which
should be traceable to the contract WBS and contractor's cost management systems. The IMS shall be
developed by logically networking (predecessor and successor logic) all discrete Contractor and principle
subcontractor, critical subcontractor, and team member activities from contract award through program
completion.”
§ “The IMS is an integrated, master schedule containing the networked, detailed tasks necessary to support the
events, accomplishments, and criteria of the IMP, if applicable. The IMS should be a logical network–based
schedule, based on sound technical planning, that is directly traceable to the contractor's cost and schedule
reporting instrument used to address variances.”
1.6 Increasing Maturity is the Only Measure of Progress
Measure the increasing maturity of the program work products
and process as the indicator of progress.
This is done by first identifying the Program Event where maturity
assessment will take place. Using the DoD 5000.2 guidelines, this
usually means
§ Contract Award (CA) or Authorization to Proceed (ATP)
§ System Requirements Review (SRR)
§ Integrated Baseline Review (IBR)
§ System Functional Review (SFR)
§ Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
§ Critical Design Review (CDR)
§ Test Readiness Review (TRR)
§ Flight or some kind of Operational Test (FT)
When speaking to the increasing maturity of the program, we need to use the right semantics. The wording in the
next picture is an approach for this wording. For each Program Event, Significant Accomplishment, and
Accomplishment Criteria a past tense verb is needed. This approach is unsettling at first. But once put into practice
it changes how work is discussed and progress is measured.

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Figure 5 – The content of the IMP elements (Event, Accomplishment, Criteria) makes use of a sentence ending in a past tense verb. There are a
limited number of these verbs of most IMPs. They defined the state of the product or service that results from the activities that compose the
Accomplishment Criteria – the tasks of the IMS. Learning to speak in the past tense of the basis of the IMP. Describing what “done” looks like
requires a past tense verb be connected with “done.”
Data Dictionary of IMP/IMS Verbs
The best way out of these semantics discussions is to have a pre–defined data dictionary for the verbs in the IMP
and IMS. Many RFP provides this dictionary and there are sources of verbs in other places.
Verb Definition
Approved The subject item, data, or document has been submitted to the Government and the Government has
notified the contractor that it is acceptable. For some data items, it is specified that no response
constitutes approval.
Available The subject item is in place or the subject process is operational. The subject data or document is added to
the Data Accession List and is accessible through Program/Project Assets or other media.
Acquired Procured and/or fabricated and available
Completed The subject item, data, document, or process is prepared or concluded and reviewed and accepted by the
IPT or responsible team.
Analyzed The subject parameter(s) has been technically evaluated through equations,
charts, simulations, prototype testing, reduced data, etc.
Conducted The subject meeting or review has been held with all required program participants. The presentation
charts or minutes are available through Program/Project baseline along with assigned action items.
Defined The subject item, data, document, or process is described in an appropriate description document that is
available through Program/Project Assets or other media.
Deficiencies
Corrected
New designs and/or procedures to correct documented deficiencies to requirements have been identified
and incorporated into
Delivered The appropriate user accepted the subject configuration item, data, or document.
Documented Properly recorded items or activities requiring formal paperwork; completed reports and review by
appropriate technical or management personnel. (If soft copy is available, it is made accessible on
Program/Project Assets.
Demonstrated The subject configuration item, data, or document demonstrates requirements compliance through
verification or validation.
Drafted An initial version (usually of a document) has been created which will require updating to finalize.
Ended Complete; over
Established The subject item is created and set in place in a manner consistent with its intended use, after review and
acceptance by the IPT. The subject item has been set and documented.
Finalized The subject data or document received contractor approvals, was distributed, and is available through
Program/Project Assets or other media. Last set of planned revisions has been made or final approval has
been obtained.
Implemented The procedure or process is executed regularly, in accordance with established practice.
Initiated The subject policy, approach, or procedure has started.
Installed The subject item, system, or system provisions have been attached to their structural interfaces and to
each other per their designs.
Integrated The subject item or system has been consolidated into an entity (e.g., data requirements, document, and

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Verb Definition
configuration item) by appropriately combining separate requirements, functional disciplines, and
configuration item considerations.
Generated Required information has been placed into written form.
Identified Made known and documented
Implemented Put in place and/or begun
Loaded The subject software item has been entered into the appropriate processor or processors’ memory space
to allow program execution.
Mated The subject structural item or modules and installed systems provisions have been attached at their
interfaces per their designs.
Operational The product or elements have been “delivered, tested, and certified ready for operation by the customer.
Ready The subject configuration item was delivered to and accepted by the requiring IPT.
Reduced The risk of the subject item is lowered according to the criteria established in the Risk Management Plan
and approved by Risk Management Board (ROMB).
Refined Next level of detail has been added or updates made.
Released The subject item, data, or documents are complete, have contractor management approval, and are under
revision control.
Retired The risk of the subject item has been lowered sufficiently for the RMB to be removed from the program’s
risk list.
Submitted Formally submitted to the Government
Tested The subject item, element, or process has been exercised under appropriate conditions in accordance with
test plans, procedures, and measurements with an analysis of the data generated.
Updated The subject item, process, data or document has been re–evaluated using later information, and
adjustments have been incorporated.
Validated The subject item, process, data, or document has been confirmed by objective evidence (e.g., tested using
existing, accepted/approved procedures, instructions, or checklists) to have been accurately derived or
determined, or has met all requirements for its intended use and performs its intended function(s). The
Contractor/Customer team usually performs this certification.
Verified The subject item has been evaluated against its specified requirements and characteristics and proven to
meet documented requirements using analyses, demonstrations, inspections, or tests.
Table 3 – Sample definitions of IMP verbs. Sometime the RFP provides a list of these verbs. Sometimes the verbs come from the standard
procedures of the firm. In all cases, a dictionary of verbs is needed and should be limited to those verbs that describe actual outcomes
meaningful to the customer and the provider.
One example of why the dictionary shown in Table 3 is useful is in the simple use of the word completed. Many use
the word Completed when they should use Complete. Complete is the state of the effort. Subtleties like this may
seem wasteful but are critically important for the integrity of the IMP and IMS.
Action verbs used in the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) Tasks
Another source of verbs for the IMP elements comes from the INCOSE Systems Engineering Glossary
Verb Definition
Allocate Apportion for a specific purpose or to a particular thing
Analyze Solve by analysis
Annotate Provide with comments
Apply Put to use
Ascertain Find out with certainty
Assess Appraise critically.
Attend Be present at
Audit Officially examine
Build Make by putting together
Calculate Find out by computation
Certify Endorse officially to attest conformance to set standards

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Verb Definition
Chair Preside as chairman of
Co-chair Chair jointly
Collect Bring together into one body or place by careful selection
Compare Find out likeness or differences
Conduct Guide, lead, direct
Consider Think about, decide
Construct Put together, build
Contribute Share in a joint effort (suggests furthering an end)
Control Direct, regulate
Coordinate Bring into a common action. movement or condition smoothly
Create Cause to be, make
Define Make clear, settle the limits; determine precise meaning of
Demonstrate Prove or make clear by reasoning or evidence, illustrate, explain
Design Perform an original act
Determine Resolve, settle, decide
Develop Bring into being or activity
Differentiate Make a distinction between
Down select Select a smaller number or group than originally existing
Egress To depart from a mission, target, or threat area
Erect Put together, set upright
Establish Make firm, prove beyond dispute, gain acceptance of
Estimate Approximate an opinion of
Evaluate Find or fix the value of; examine and judge (non-monetary)
Evolve Develop gradually, work out
Examine Scrutinize to determine the nature, condition or quality of
Explore Examine for discovery
Extract Take out, deduce, select
Fabricate Build, manufacture, invent
Form Give shape to, establish
Formulate Put together and express
Generate Produce, cause to be
Incorporate Unite thoroughly with something existing, blend
Ingress To enter into a mission, target, or threat area
Initiate Begin, take the first step of something that is to continue
Input Feed information into a computer
Inquire Ask, make a search of
Inspect Examine carefully or officially; scrutinize for error or defect
Install Place, put into position
Institute Set up; establish, begin
Integrate Add parts to make whole
Interpret Explain the meaning of
Investigate Search into, examine closely
Judge Decide, form an estimate of
Maintain Keep in an existing state, preserve from failure or decline
Make Cause to come into being
Manage Succeed in accomplishing, direct, achieve one's purpose

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Verb Definition
Manufacture Fabricate from raw materials
Notice Comment upon, review
Observe Inspect, watch
Organize Integrate, arrange in a coherent unit
Originate Initiate, give rise to
Participate Take part in an undertaking, activity or discussion
Perform Do, carry out, accomplish
Plan Devise a scheme for doing or arranging activities to achieve an objective
Prepare Make ready, put into written form
Prioritize Assign priority
Probe Investigate thoroughly
Process Subject to a special process or treatment
Produce Give birth or rise to
Provide Supply what is needed for sustenance or support
Pursue Seek, obtain, or accomplish
Reason Think, influence another's actions
Recommend Advise, attract favor of
Record Set down in writing, or act of recording electronic reproduction
Resolve Reduce by analysis, clear up
Review Inspection, examination or evaluation
Scan Look through hastily, survey from point to point
Scrutinize Examine closely with attention to minute detail
Search Examine to find something
Seek Try to discover, make an attempt
Select Take by preference from a number or group, make a choice
Solve Find an answer
Study Carefully examine or analyze
Support Assist, help
Trace Copy, or find by searching
Track Observe or plot the path of
Update Bring up to date
Validate Verify, substantiate, and grant official sanction to.
Table 4 – Action verbs to be used as the first word for each Task in the IMS. These verbs complement the verbs used at the end of the
description of the IMP elements.
1.7 Logical Flow of Tasks within the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
The linking of tasks starts with vertical linking of the AC collection of tasks.
§ Assign all tasks to As Late As Possible (ALAP) when building the Vertical Linking and the initial Horizontal linking.
This allows a visible indication if the work fits "in the box" for each Program Event.
§ Link all tasks to their respective ACs and the ACs to their respective SAs and the SAs to the Program Event

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1.8 Decomposing the System
There are several approaches to decomposing the system:
§ Pure top-down flow from a single system into sub–systems and sub– sub– systems.
§ Interfaces definitions between disparate systems managed through Interface Control Documents (ICD) in some
way.
§ Functional decomposition through different engineering disciplines
§ Never should the decomposition be in a horizontal manner. Only a vertical approach should be used to develop
the IMP and resulting IMS.
There are many sources for this material. The following figure describes most of these and how they are arranged
to produce the IMP and the IMS.
Figure 6 – The source of guidance and materials for building the IMP and the IMS comes from a variety of sources. Some of official guidance
from the government. Some from the RFP and many from training and guidance sources available on the web, through courses and books.
Sources of Information for the IMP and IMS
Another view of the source materials for the IMP and IMS is the DoD Version of PMBOK in Figure 7. This “notional”
concept can actually be put into practice. The key is to make sure the WBS structure does not dominate the
topology of the IMS. Instead, focus on the product deliverables as part of an “increasing maturity” process flow.
This structure is the guiding framework for the IMP/IMS integration and emphasizes the fact that while the
WBS/CWBS is critical, the Program Events and the decomposition of the Significant Accomplishments and
Accomplishment Criteria are the real drivers of the IMS.

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Figure 7 – The flow from requirements to WBS to tasks is replicated in the IMP and IMS. This traceability of critical in both the proposal
environment, mandated by the §L and §M guidelines and the execution environment for the EVMS collection of physical progress to plan.
Subsystems in DOORS or Some Requirements Management System
If DOORS is used for the systems engineering requirements flowdown, then this is a good place to look for the
structure of the program through a systems engineering point of view.
Using the DOORS export the Requirements Tree can be exported. This requirements tree can then be used to
structure the “product oriented” IMP elements past CDR, where the work is focused on delivering hardware or
software.
Work Break Down Structure (WBS)
If there is a product WBS that decomposes the system properly into subsystems – and does NOT model the
functional activities or functional departments.
Remember the WBS is NOT the IMP. The WBS is a cost accounting and cost collection process. Starting with the
WBS leads to an IMP that is focused cost, not on defining the increasing maturity of the program.
Define the Program Events, their SAs and ACs – then add the WBS numbers to collect the costs of performing the
work in the ACs.
Logical Process Flow
In every program, there is some kind of logical process flow to get from the contract award to the final product and
contract close out.
Defining this process flow is critical to defining the IMP. This can be done in several ways:
§ The best way is to convene a group of subject matter experts that understand how the product is designed,
build, manufactured, and used. They can layout the process flow. With this layout, program events can be
allocated to the various stages of the process flow.
§ Using the government’s program events, assign SAs and ACs from the process flow. This a reverse engineering
approach, but very useful.

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§ Connections between the IMP/IMS
elements define how maturity is
measured.
§ Fully defining each element and its
interface is required – no missing
elements are allowed.
§ The vertical and horizontal flows –
together – are needed for success.
1.9 Process Flow of the IMP and IMS Elements
The flow between the IMP and IMS elements is focused on
demonstrating increasing maturity of the program. With this
approach, the measurement of the program performance can take
place using Earned Value measures of the deliverables produced
by the Accomplishment Criteria. While Earned Value traditionally
is applied to the Tasks within the Accomplishment Criteria,
additional insight can be gained through the assessment of the
ACs. These literally become the “accomplishment criteria” is
measuring the increasing maturity.
Figure 8 – The connections between the IMP and IMS elements are used to demonstrate the increasing mature of the program. These flows can
also be connected to the Cross Reference Matrix (CRM) required in most proposals. As well traceability for program performance (EVMS
measures) is provided through the IMP and IMS elements from various points of view.
These connections are critical to the structural integrity of the IMS. There may be other attributes – SOW, SOO, IPT
and the like, but the core connections are shown above. This allows the IMS to be "picked up" as an IMS or a WBS
structure. The WBS can be used as a grouping field for the Activities, SAs, ACs and PEs if the summary tasks are
ignored. This is another reason to structure the IMS first as a Vertical topology. Then the connections between
work, the Exit Criteria of that work (AC) and the entry criteria for the Events – SAs can be separated from the WBS.
While the WBS is very important to the cost accounting function and the cost structure for the customer, it has
little value to the assessment of the increasing maturity of the IMS.
This understanding is usually not found at first, when the concept of IMP/IMS is introduced. At first the concept of
a CDRL as the deliverable is hard to grasp. Especially for those coming from the functional or production planning
domain. Through PDR, the “product” of the program of represented in its physical form by the contents of the
CDRL’s. it is the CDRL that is delivered at the review meetings.
There may be long lead items, test software of hardware at PDR, but the majority of what “done” looks like at PDR
and possibly CDR and 100% at SRR and SFR is the content of the CDRL documents.